We at Sage Mountain are celebrating all mothers today, both human and animal.

Animal agriculture co-opts and profits off of motherhood in every way. We all know slaughterhouses are horrific. But, in this industrialized nation of ours, the “meat” and dairy industries are very much tied to the productive capabilities of a female cow, chicken, or pig, and the systemic control over that body, her life chances, and the offspring she is forced to bear, repeatedly, but will never be able to raise naturally.

In celebrating Mothers today — we ask you to observe the vital questions that link back to motherhood and animals — who had to birth that animal to then be raised and “harvested”? What does motherhood look like in factory farming? Why do we have a constant supply of milk? Why are we the only mammals who drink milk into our later life?

Think about the processes of production and the animals behind much of what we eat, use, buy, and wear. Within the dairy industry, not only are these rape racks a horrific “industry standard,” but further still, newborn cows are ripped from their mother immediately after birth. Male calves go directly into the veal industry and the females begin growing so that they can produce offspring and milk as quick as possible. Today, factory farmed dairy cows produce 100 pounds of milk per day–10 times that of cows a few decades ago. The increase is due to bovine growth hormones and constant breeding to increase milk production. Imagine being chemically induced to produce more milk for the financial benefit of another being, against your will, all while having your baby stripped from you and taken to their own tragic fate.

The egg industry is equally as vile, what with hens crammed into tiny cages and forced to grow and lay multiple eggs daily via hormones. Male chicks are simply “disposed of” or thrown in a grinder while alive — viewed as worthless in their inability to lay eggs or produce breast meat. “Breeding sows” or pigs in the “pork” industry are kept in gestation crates for their entire life–not allowed to move, merely a fuel station for their piglets and kept pregnant, lactating, and miserable. And these are just the cows, pigs, and chickens of the animal agriculture system — the unfortunate truth is that this fate happens to these and millions of other animals for human “need” and “benefit” every single day. By choosing not to take part in these systems of torture, suffering, and exploitation, you are making a deliberate and powerful, and, I would argue, “Honor your Mother [Earth]” statement.

Join us in celebrating mothers today, and everyday — be that yourself, or the mothers in your life, inclusive of the cows, pigs, chickens, etc. who are unable to mother, nurture, or live naturally within the animal agriculture system.